Canberra footballer Hannah Mouncey wants to become the first transgender player in the AFLW, with the 27-year-old set to declare for the draft in October.
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Mouncey stands at 190cm and played in the Australia handball team which tried to qualify for the Rio Olympics, before beginning hormone treatment almost two years ago.
The Ainslie ruck played football until high school before focusing on handball for the next decade, but returned to the game this season with the Tricolours.
Mouncey starred in the AFL Canberra competition and after watching the success of the inaugural AFLW season told the Outer Sanctum Podcast she wanted to test herself at the next level.
"My involvement with women's footy before was non-existent for obvious reasons and it's been really great playing locally and seeing what the AFLW have done," Mouncey said.
"It's forced all the other sports to catch up with how women are treated... I haven't had a lot to do with football for a long time and seeing how much it's changed in the women's from 10 years ago has been really cool."
Mouncey said she's comfortable with the attention that will come as the first transgender player in the AFLW but emphasised she has to get there first.
"You've gotta get picked up first and it's not like that's a given, but if people have an interest in me because I'm trans than that is what it is," Mouncey said.
"I can't control that and to be honest I've probably seen and heard everything you possibly can in the negative sense, so that's not going to hold any fears for me there.
"Once you work past the red tape to actually playing [it gets easier]... I'm just keen to play and hopefully I get picked up and whatever happens outside that isn't something I can control."
"It's forced all the other sports to catch up with how women are treated..."
- Canberra footballer Hannah Mouncey
Mouncey accepts she will be seen differently to other players but hopes teams and fans can embrace her for her ability, which she promises to deliver in spades.
"I know I'm different and not necessarily in a good way or bad way, but I know I am going to be seen differently," Mouncey said.
"People have said 'with how big you are you'll probably hold back a bit so you don't hurt anyone' and I'm like 'well no I'm not going to hold back, that defeats the whole purpose'.
"I had my ribs broken in my last game so I know they can hit me as hard as I can hit them and do damage. It is different and I know it is seen differently but I won't approach it any differently."
The AFL follows IOC regulations which states an athlete must prove her testosterone level is below 10 nanomoles per litre, which Mouncey comfortably meets.
In a bid to improve her running Mouncey has dropped 7kgs to weigh 100kg but said there are no guidelines for transgender people looking to reach peak physical condition.
"I've probably got to reduce my weight more than anything and the more you do to maintain your strength it's going to be detrimental to the aerobic side, so I do just enough," Mouncey said.
"I got pretty sick recently because I tried to jump back into what I was doing three years ago but my body can't do that at the moment because I haven't trained that way for a while.
"Physiologically things are different, not having any testosterone at this weight makes recovery difficult which is probably something I didn't factor in, so there's a bit of trial and error.
"I'm really just figuring it out as I go along, recovery is longer and I can't eat as much, but also not having a male metabolism you have to watch what you eat."
The AFLW draft is on October 18.
The story, Canberra's Hannah Mouncey wants to be first transgender player in AFLW, first appeared on The Canberra Times.
